Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

41 results found

boric acid

(Encyclopedia)boric acid, any one of the three chemical compounds, orthoboric (or boracic) acid, metaboric acid, and tetraboric (or pyroboric) acid; the term often refers simply to orthoboric acid. The acids may be...

Kinsella, Thomas

(Encyclopedia) Kinsella, Thomas , 1928-2021, Irish poet and translator, b. Inchicore, Dublin. Kinsella studied at Dublin's University College and began working as a c...

Padua

(Encyclopedia)Padua pădˈyo͞oə [key], Ital. Padova, city (1991 pop. 215,137), capital of Padova prov., in Venetia, NE Italy, connected by canal with the Brenta, Adige, and Po rivers. It is an agricultural, comme...

Hammond, John Henry

(Encyclopedia)Hammond, John Henry, 1910–87, American record producer; blues, jazz, and rock promoter; and music critic, b. New York City. A member of the wealthy Vanderbilt family, he entered the music business i...

Pennebaker, D. A.

(Encyclopedia)Pennebaker, D. A. (Donn Alan Pennebaker), 1925–2019, pioneering documentary filmmaker, b. Evanston, Ill. His first film, Daybreak Express (1958), is a five-minute short detailing New York's doomed T...

fig

(Encyclopedia)fig, name for members of the genus Ficus of the family Moraceae (mulberry family). This large genus contains some 800 species of widely varied tropical vines (some of which are epiphytic); shrubs; and...

Simon, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Simon, Paul, 1941–, American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, b. Newark, N.J. A polished and intelligent folk-rock lyricist and performer, he first gained fame as half of Simon and Garfunkel (with...

Rainey, Gertrude "Ma"

(Encyclopedia)Rainey, Gertrude "Ma," 1886–1939, African-American blues singer and songwriter, b. Columbus, Ga., as Gertrude Melissa Nix Pridgett. Rainey's place and...

Indus valley civilization

(Encyclopedia)Indus valley civilization, ancient civilization that arose about 3300 b.c. in the valley of the Indus River and its tributaries, in the northwestern portion of the Indian subcontinent, i.e., present-d...

Maclaine, Shirley

(Encyclopedia) Maclaine, Shirley, 1934- , American actress and author, b. Richmond, Va., as Shirley MacLean Beaty. Maclaine’s father held various jobs in education...
 

Browse by Subject